In this part I’ll introduce the school’s structure, mission, and ethnic makeup.
Dr. Michael H. Sullivan School is a public school that serves 265 students in grades K-4. In 2009-2010, grade 5 was dropped. In 2011-12, grade PK was dropped. The mission of the Dr. Michael H. Sullivan School is to provide and foster a nurturing and motivating learning environment where each child is encouraged to develop his/her potential, to become a lifelong learner, to respect and appreciate all diversities, and become a productive citizen. The gender demographics are pretty even however when looking at the race demographics, but it is pretty spread out between different races. In the state of Rhode Island, 73.4% of kids are white, while only 36.1% in Dr. M.H. Sullivan School are white. The rest of the demographics include African American (33.3% in Newport and 9.1% in Rhode Island), Asian (0% in Newport and 4% in Rhode Island), and people with more than one race (50% in Newport and 17.4% in Rhode Island). To sum up, this can be considered a more diverse student body.(education.com, 2013)
Health and safety For Dr. M.H. Sullivan School, most of its students may come from a low-income family and they need extra financial support. It has to highest the rate of suspensions, and the largest percentage of children who qualify for subsidized lunch. According to Infoworks, in the whole district, only 15% of students received Special Education, and subsidized lunch increased to 46%; and the number of students receiving ESL increased to 6%. For this school, 24% of these students were in Special Education classes; 7% were limited English proficient (LEP) students, and 89% received free or reduced-price lunch. (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2013).
Students in this school don’t feel they are in a safe environment and they are more likely to be robbed and bullied at school and they feel less been treated equally for breaking the same rule compared with the state average. However, over 50% of students in Rhode Island are bullied at least once a year, with nearly 12% reporting 5 or more incidents of bullying a year. So even though Dr. M.H Sullivan is in line with the statewide amount of bullying, it is clearly an issue. The student survey also reports that students are more likely to be bullied because of their race, religion, or a learning disability at Dr. M.H Sullivan. The SALT report also commented on this by saying that diversity was an issue that needed to be addressed because some students who were ethnically, socio-economically, and academically diverse mentioned that they felt unequally treated. (SALT, 2001)
For elementary students, they should have nothing to do with violence, alcohol and drug. Unfortunately, drugs, alcohol, and smoking, surprisingly affects Dr. M.H Sullivan students. 10.3% of the students said they consumed alcohol without their parents’ permission (3.1% in 2009 and 4% in the entire state) and 12.8% said they smoked tobacco which is more than 6 times the amount of the statewide statistic which is only 2.4% ((Rhode Island Department of Education, 2013). Student Achievement The grades the students attained were low above proficiency. According to the "InfoWorks " website, Dr. M. H. Sullivan Elementary School, is lower than that of the state of Rhode Island. In fact every percentage is significantly lower than the state average except for White students’ English art and math, which is a disappointing fact. Students attending Dr. M.H Sullivan have seriously below average scores on NECAP. The Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) Report found that Dr. M.H Sullivan is currently at a Priority level according to the Accountability Summary and Classification report for the 2012-13 school year. (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2013）
Students’ performance is also reflected on attendance rate and chronic absenteeism rate. The attendance rate of Dr. M.H Sullivan is tiny lower than the state, being 94%. The chronic absenteeism rate of this school is in line with the state, being 9%. It may be a result of the strict attendance rules of Dr. M.H. Sullivan School stated in its handbook for students and parents. (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2013）
Many factors many contribute to students’ poor achievements:
First, technology seldom takes a part in teachers teaching. When asked about “Do you use a computer in class?” only 18.4% of students say yes compared with 70.5% of the average of the whole stated.
Second, students have less chance to review and consolidate what they have learnt through homework. When asked “How many hours a day do you usually spend working on your homework on the computer?” more than half of them say “never”. (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2013）
Thirdly, teachers’ teaching has a negative effect on students’ learning. Teachers may try their best to make the course more useful rather than just interesting. In the SurveyWorks survey, students at the Dr. M.H Sullivan and students statewide were asked if their teachers made learning fun and if their teachers made them want to learn. At the Dr. M.H Sullivan, 52.6 % said their teachers always make learning fun, 21.1 % said mostly. Statewide, 40% of students said teachers always make learning fun, 29.7% said mostly. While when answered “My teachers make me want to learn more” 48.6 % said their teachers always make me want to learn more, 8.6 % said never. Statewide, 52.6 % of students said teachers always, 5.9 % said never. (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2013）
Third, students are not in quite a safe and healthy environment for learning. It may be one of a reason for students’ poor performance. Besides, the school lacks support. Lack of technological, political and financial support, students cannot do well in performance.
Fourthly, students have less confident in being admitted to college than other schools but teachers have more confident in their students. There is a suggestion that teacher and student should keep in touch and communicate with each other to think over the best method and curriculum for students’ development on condition that they are offered enough support and attention financially and technologically. When asked “is there a counselor at your school?” less than half of students say “yes”, while the statewide is 88.3%. No wonder at the Dr. M.H Sullivan, 82.1% of students think they will finish high school, 58.3 of students think they will go to college, and 70.0% teachers think they will go to college. Statewide, 85.6% of students think they will finish high school, 81.4 of students think they will go to college, and 62.6% teachers think they will go to college. (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2013）
Teaching
The ratio of teacher to students makes small size class possible. A smaller classroom means more attention a teacher can provide to each student. According to” Inforworks” website, in 2011, Dr. M. H. Sullivan School had 8 students for every full-time equivalent teacher. The Rhode Island average is 11 students per full-time equivalent teacher. Teachers are all in good quality when students were asked about their teachers and their efficiency in class, there was positive feedback both at Dr. M.H Sullivan and statewide. Students assured that teachers were giving them direction, manageable class work and homework, intellectually challenging work, explanation, opportunities, and a friendly and clean classroom space. This type of environment is crucial for success in school. (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2013）
Family
Support from family is a priority in the success of a student. If there is no care, early education and encouragement from parents, the child will lose all motivation to succeed. At Dr. M.H Sullivan, although most of parents just have completed their high school (38.5%) and 0% of them finished their college while the state is 12.2% and 32.0% respectively. Thankfully, parents at Dr. M.H Sullivan seem to be very supportive. Students responded that their parents are eager to know what their child is doing in school (91.9 % at Dr. M.H Sullivan, and 94.8% statewide). Also, 97.4% of Dr. M.H Sullivan students and 99.5% of Rhode Island students said that their parents want them to get good grades. When parents were asked, 55.6% of them strongly agree with “I know what my child is studying in his or her classes”, and 77.8% of them strongly agree with “I feel welcome at this school”. Statewide ratio is 37.2% and 49.8% respectively. Meanwhile, parents are willing to attend different types of school related events. And Dr. M.H Sullivan will involve parents in making decisions. Parents have a positive statement to this school. (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2013）
All in all, parents and teachers have a good relationship.
Funding and Resources From the information from the school and the information from the students, it is easily figured that the kids have a strong support system but are not well off economically. Socioeconomics affects the resources the students have and what they might need. Funding and resources play an important role in student’s achievement and school’s development. The district property value per student is $2,670 in the year of 2009. The expenditure of per pupil is $18,732. The district median family income is $54,116. Dr. M.H. Sullivan is very well funded. This allows for proper facilities and materials for students. Students report that they have enough books for everyone in the class; they have adequate sized desks, and a nice-looking school. All of these qualities are important in a school. They give students a place to be proud to go to and to learn. However, computers are not accessible to every student. The computer problem could possibly be because the teacher doesn't include it in their curriculum, or because school spends the fund on hardware facility rather than software facility. (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2013). Conclusion Newport, RI is located on the southern portion of an island in Rhode Island, where Kids should never have to worry about going to school with the possibility of not having lunch. Newport is also a giant tourist place, therefore the area by the beach looks rather nice and upper class looking. However, there are many other parts of Newport that the tourists don't see, which the area is where the lower and middle class citizens live. This area is never really visited by tourists, causing them to think that Newport is one of the "rich" towns in Rhode Island, when in reality it is far from it.
Compared to the other elementary schools in the Newport school district, Dr. M.H. Sullivan School is probably the worst one. They also have close to 300 students in their school which is a lot more than the others as well as the lowest test scores in the district. Many factors contribute, such as diversity culture and value, socioeconomic factors and policy planning. Despite these statistics that the school has, all the other schools have about the same funding or resources as well as no teachers certified for emergency situations or high qualified. Students have a positive attitude to this school and they have confident in finish their study here. Parents have good relationship with teacher and school, and they are welcome to participate in decision-making process. Qualified teachers are keen on the entire student, have confident in their future and they are ready to help. With more improvement, the Dr. M.H. Sullivan School could improve much of their negative characteristics and turn to a better one.
Introduction
In this part I’ll introduce the school’s structure, mission, and ethnic makeup.
Dr. Michael H. Sullivan School is a public school that serves 265 students in grades K-4. In 2009-2010, grade 5 was dropped. In 2011-12, grade PK was dropped. The mission of the Dr. Michael H. Sullivan School is to provide and foster a nurturing and motivating learning environment where each child is encouraged to develop his/her potential, to become a lifelong learner, to respect and appreciate all diversities, and become a productive citizen. The gender demographics are pretty even however when looking at the race demographics, but it is pretty spread out between different races. In the state of Rhode Island, 73.4% of kids are white, while only 36.1% in Dr. M.H. Sullivan School are white. The rest of the demographics include African American (33.3% in Newport and 9.1% in Rhode Island), Asian (0% in Newport and 4% in Rhode Island), and people with more than one race (50% in Newport and 17.4% in Rhode Island). To sum up, this can be considered a more diverse student body.(education.com, 2013)
Health and safety
For Dr. M.H. Sullivan School, most of its students may come from a low-income family and they need extra financial support. It has to highest the rate of suspensions, and the largest percentage of children who qualify for subsidized lunch. According to Infoworks, in the whole district, only 15% of students received Special Education, and subsidized lunch increased to 46%; and the number of students receiving ESL increased to 6%. For this school, 24% of these students were in Special Education classes; 7% were limited English proficient (LEP) students, and 89% received free or reduced-price lunch. (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2013).
Students in this school don’t feel they are in a safe environment and they are more likely to be robbed and bullied at school and they feel less been treated equally for breaking the same rule compared with the state average. However, over 50% of students in Rhode Island are bullied at least once a year, with nearly 12% reporting 5 or more incidents of bullying a year. So even though Dr. M.H Sullivan is in line with the statewide amount of bullying, it is clearly an issue. The student survey also reports that students are more likely to be bullied because of their race, religion, or a learning disability at Dr. M.H Sullivan. The SALT report also commented on this by saying that diversity was an issue that needed to be addressed because some students who were ethnically, socio-economically, and academically diverse mentioned that they felt unequally treated. (SALT, 2001)
For elementary students, they should have nothing to do with violence, alcohol and drug. Unfortunately, drugs, alcohol, and smoking, surprisingly affects Dr. M.H Sullivan students. 10.3% of the students said they consumed alcohol without their parents’ permission (3.1% in 2009 and 4% in the entire state) and 12.8% said they smoked tobacco which is more than 6 times the amount of the statewide statistic which is only 2.4% ((Rhode Island Department of Education, 2013).
Student Achievement
The grades the students attained were low above proficiency. According to the "InfoWorks " website, Dr. M. H. Sullivan Elementary School, is lower than that of the state of Rhode Island. In fact every percentage is significantly lower than the state average except for White students’ English art and math, which is a disappointing fact. Students attending Dr. M.H Sullivan have seriously below average scores on NECAP. The Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) Report found that Dr. M.H Sullivan is currently at a Priority level according to the Accountability Summary and Classification report for the 2012-13 school year. (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2013）
Students’ performance is also reflected on attendance rate and chronic absenteeism rate. The attendance rate of Dr. M.H Sullivan is tiny lower than the state, being 94%. The chronic absenteeism rate of this school is in line with the state, being 9%. It may be a result of the strict attendance rules of Dr. M.H. Sullivan School stated in its handbook for students and parents. (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2013）
Many factors many contribute to students’ poor achievements:
First, technology seldom takes a part in teachers teaching. When asked about “Do you use a computer in class?” only 18.4% of students say yes compared with 70.5% of the average of the whole stated.
Second, students have less chance to review and consolidate what they have learnt through homework. When asked “How many hours a day do you usually spend working on your homework on the computer?” more than half of them say “never”. (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2013）
Thirdly, teachers’ teaching has a negative effect on students’ learning. Teachers may try their best to make the course more useful rather than just interesting. In the SurveyWorks survey, students at the Dr. M.H Sullivan and students statewide were asked if their teachers made learning fun and if their teachers made them want to learn. At the Dr. M.H Sullivan, 52.6 % said their teachers always make learning fun, 21.1 % said mostly. Statewide, 40% of students said teachers always make learning fun, 29.7% said mostly. While when answered “My teachers make me want to learn more” 48.6 % said their teachers always make me want to learn more, 8.6 % said never. Statewide, 52.6 % of students said teachers always, 5.9 % said never. (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2013）
Third, students are not in quite a safe and healthy environment for learning. It may be one of a reason for students’ poor performance. Besides, the school lacks support. Lack of technological, political and financial support, students cannot do well in performance.
Fourthly, students have less confident in being admitted to college than other schools but teachers have more confident in their students. There is a suggestion that teacher and student should keep in touch and communicate with each other to think over the best method and curriculum for students’ development on condition that they are offered enough support and attention financially and technologically. When asked “is there a counselor at your school?” less than half of students say “yes”, while the statewide is 88.3%. No wonder at the Dr. M.H Sullivan, 82.1% of students think they will finish high school, 58.3 of students think they will go to college, and 70.0% teachers think they will go to college. Statewide, 85.6% of students think they will finish high school, 81.4 of students think they will go to college, and 62.6% teachers think they will go to college. (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2013）
Teaching
The ratio of teacher to students makes small size class possible. A smaller classroom means more attention a teacher can provide to each student. According to” Inforworks” website, in 2011, Dr. M. H. Sullivan School had 8 students for every full-time equivalent teacher. The Rhode Island average is 11 students per full-time equivalent teacher. Teachers are all in good quality when students were asked about their teachers and their efficiency in class, there was positive feedback both at Dr. M.H Sullivan and statewide. Students assured that teachers were giving them direction, manageable class work and homework, intellectually challenging work, explanation, opportunities, and a friendly and clean classroom space. This type of environment is crucial for success in school. (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2013）
Family
Support from family is a priority in the success of a student. If there is no care, early education and encouragement from parents, the child will lose all motivation to succeed. At Dr. M.H Sullivan, although most of parents just have completed their high school (38.5%) and 0% of them finished their college while the state is 12.2% and 32.0% respectively. Thankfully, parents at Dr. M.H Sullivan seem to be very supportive. Students responded that their parents are eager to know what their child is doing in school (91.9 % at Dr. M.H Sullivan, and 94.8% statewide). Also, 97.4% of Dr. M.H Sullivan students and 99.5% of Rhode Island students said that their parents want them to get good grades. When parents were asked, 55.6% of them strongly agree with “I know what my child is studying in his or her classes”, and 77.8% of them strongly agree with “I feel welcome at this school”. Statewide ratio is 37.2% and 49.8% respectively. Meanwhile, parents are willing to attend different types of school related events. And Dr. M.H Sullivan will involve parents in making decisions. Parents have a positive statement to this school. (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2013）
All in all, parents and teachers have a good relationship.
Funding and Resources
From the information from the school and the information from the students, it is easily figured that the kids have a strong support system but are not well off economically. Socioeconomics affects the resources the students have and what they might need. Funding and resources play an important role in student’s achievement and school’s development. The district property value per student is $2,670 in the year of 2009. The expenditure of per pupil is $18,732. The district median family income is $54,116. Dr. M.H. Sullivan is very well funded. This allows for proper facilities and materials for students. Students report that they have enough books for everyone in the class; they have adequate sized desks, and a nice-looking school. All of these qualities are important in a school. They give students a place to be proud to go to and to learn. However, computers are not accessible to every student. The computer problem could possibly be because the teacher doesn't include it in their curriculum, or because school spends the fund on hardware facility rather than software facility. (Rhode Island Department of Education, 2013).
Conclusion
Newport, RI is located on the southern portion of an island in Rhode Island, where Kids should never have to worry about going to school with the possibility of not having lunch. Newport is also a giant tourist place, therefore the area by the beach looks rather nice and upper class looking. However, there are many other parts of Newport that the tourists don't see, which the area is where the lower and middle class citizens live. This area is never really visited by tourists, causing them to think that Newport is one of the "rich" towns in Rhode Island, when in reality it is far from it.
Compared to the other elementary schools in the Newport school district, Dr. M.H. Sullivan School is probably the worst one. They also have close to 300 students in their school which is a lot more than the others as well as the lowest test scores in the district. Many factors contribute, such as diversity culture and value, socioeconomic factors and policy planning. Despite these statistics that the school has, all the other schools have about the same funding or resources as well as no teachers certified for emergency situations or high qualified. Students have a positive attitude to this school and they have confident in finish their study here. Parents have good relationship with teacher and school, and they are welcome to participate in decision-making process. Qualified teachers are keen on the entire student, have confident in their future and they are ready to help. With more improvement, the Dr. M.H. Sullivan School could improve much of their negative characteristics and turn to a better one.
Source
1.
Dr. M.H. Sullivan School: The SALT Visit Team Report. Retrieved from
http://www.eride.ri.gov/dataDump/00/2006-07/SaltRpts/200101_21_MH_Sullivan_Elementary.pdf
2. ^
Rhode Island Department of Education. (2013). Inforworks! Rhode Island Education Data Reporting. Infoworks! Rhode Island Education Data Reporting. Retrieved from http://infoworks.ride.ri.gov/school/dr-m-h-sullivan-school
3. Rhode Island Department of Education(2011-2012). InfoWorks http://infoworks.ride.ri.gov/files/surveyworks/2011-2012/combined/surveyworks-2011-2012-dr-m-h-sullivan-school-student-parent-teacher-es.pd
4. Education.com's SchoolFinder gives parents and teachers free access to school information.http://www.education.com/schoolfinder/us/rhode-island/newport/dr-m-h-sullivan-school/
5. Dr. M. H. Sullivan School: Grades, Ratings, and Reviews - Zillow School Informationhttp://www.zillow.com/newport-ri/schools/dr-m-h-sullivan-school-66846/
6.GreatSchools http://www.greatschools.org/rhode-island/newport/145-Dr.-M.-H.-Sullivan-School/